William j



(No Model.)

W. J. BREWER.

RAILWAY HAND GAR.

No. 267.772. Patented Nov. Z1 1882" W I IN ESSES 7 IA V'EJVTOR T aWilli/Gin, :IBTeu/er,

l l. PETERS. PhnhrLilhflR Pher, Wanhinglun. D. (L

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE W'ILLIAM J. BREWER, OF BOMBAY, INDIA.

RAILWAY HAND-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 267,772, dated November21, 18 82.

Application filed March 22, 1882. (No model.) Patented in India April10, 1880, No. 2'2; in England April 1'7, 1880, No. 1,588,- in BelgiumOctober 18, 1 880. No. 52,796; in France October 18, 1880, N 0. 139,214,and in Austria October 29, 1881, No. 26,478.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM J OHN BREWER, asubject of the Empress of India, residing at Bombay, India, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Railway Hand-Oars, applicablein part to other vehicles, of which the iollowing is a specification.

This invention is part of my improvements in apparatus for reducingfriction of axles, &c., patented in Great Britain by Letters Patent No.1,588, dated April'l7, 1880.

My present invention consists in certain novel combination of parts,hereinafter described and claimed.

The object of the first part of this invention is to combine a certainform of anti-friction wheels, hereinafter termed leverwheels, with thehind wheels of a hand-car or like trackwheels adapted to rotateindependently, so as to avoid grinding or undue strain, and todistribute and equalize wear without complication of parts, which Iaccomplish by constructing the loosetrack-wheels with suitable hubs tocoact with the lever-wheels, and. mounting the lever wheels loosely ontheir own axle, which is the load-sustaining axle.

The object of the second part of this invention is to further reducefriction by a compact and simple combination of parts, comprisingpedestals and axle-boxes having vertical slots to receive the front axleor a like trackwheel axle, and a lever-wheel axle above it,

with lever-wheels mounted in said boxes and forming the upper bearingsof said lever-wheel axles, the whole being compactly arranged beneaththe car-platform.

The object of the third part" of this invention is to combine suchlever-wheels with the driving mechanism of the hand-car or likeselfpropelling vehicle, and with the track-wheel axle with which saidmechanism coacts, in a Figureloftheaccompanyingdrawingsrepresen ts avertical longitudinal section of a railway hand-car illustrating thisinvention; Fig. 2, a vertical transverse section of the same, showingits propelling mechanism in elevation; Fig. 3, a detail viewof one ofthe hind wheels and its immediate accessories, partly in section,

' a front axle, D, carrying a pair of track-wheels,

m, at its ends, and provided at mid-len gth with a fast baud-pulley, p,-a hind axle, E, uniting a pair of loose track wheels, 10 lever wheelaxles F G, above the respective main axles, provided at theirextremities with lever-wheels w 00 loose thereon, resting respectivelyupon the front axle,.D, and upon the hubs of the loose hind wheels, 10a. pair of axle-boxes, H, bolted to the front pedestals, B, and provided with lever-wheels m mounted loosely upon spindle-bolts or pins .9and resting upon said lever-wheel axle F; a set of bearing posts orbrackets, I J, bolted to the top of the platform A, with their centersin the same vertical transverse plane as those of the front pedes tals,B; a driving-shaft, K, provided at midlength with a driving-pulley, 1a,and at its respective extremities with hand-cranks c, and supported bythe upper ends of the higher brackets I a pair of lever-wheels, marranged between said brackets I and the brackets J, and mounted thereinby means of trunnions t, and a driving band or belt, 1), connecting saidpulleys p p.

The pedestals B G, axle-boxes H, and brackets I J, have vertical slotsto receive the axles D E and F G and the shaft K, so that the onlybearings of said axles in the direction of loadbearing strain and ofsaid shaft in the direction of gravitation and principal strain areformed by the peripheries of the said rotary leverwheels, while saidlever-Wheels are adapted by smooth and true hearings to rotate freely,and, serving by the reduction of speed and corresponding increase ofpower to overcome resistance at their bearings, they form nearlyfrictionless bearings for the main axles and driving-shaft in thesimplest manner. The said adaptation of the main lever-wheels to rotateindependently of their rotary axles serves still further to precludefrictional resistance by adapting each wheel to rotate in unison withthe coacting axle or hub surface, rotating, if need be, independently,while the rotation of the lever-wheel axles therewith ordinarilydistributes and equalizes wear.

The adaptation of the hind track-wheels to rotate independently is ofwell-known importance in reducing friction and strain at curves,

and the lever-wheels are readily adapted thereto. For this purpose thehub of each loose track-wheel maybe extended, as shown in Fig. 3, or theback of the wheel may have an annular recess of sufficient depth toaccommodate the coacting lever-wheel within it, as shown in Fig. 4. Anadvantageof this arrangement is the superior balancing of the load uponthe respective wheels, and the lever-wheels may be thus applied to thisform of wheel as commonly used on road-engines, such agriculturalmachines as harvesters, and the like. This is illustrated by dottedperipheral spurs in Fig. 4; and this figure also illustrates theemployment of lever-wheels having rounded peripheries to precludeunequal strain. Hubs or collars to coact with lever-wheels of thisdescription may be shrunk on or otherwise applied to the rotary axles inline with the respective leverwheels. Lubricating devices oranti-friction bearings may be used to supplement the lever-wheels, andthe details of mechanical construction may be otherwise modified withoutdeparting from this invention. The loose wheels may be held in place onthe axles in any approved way.

The entire combination of parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2 may obviously beused in a roadwagon or other four-wheeled vehicle which it may bedesirable to propel by manual power, with a simple adaptation of themain wheels to the surface upon which they are to travel, and withoutany change save the addition of brakesincustomarymanner. Therunning-gearis adapted to be attached as a substitute for the ordinary running-gearof street-cars and the like, while different combinations of the samewithin the scope of this invention may be formed by mounting both axlesin either of the two ways illustrated.

The operation of the several parts is best illustrated by Fig. 1. Thedriving-shaft K is rowf. The wheels 10 turn asindicated by arrow 6, byfrictional contact with the track, in customary manner, and the axle Eordinarily rotates therewith but the wheels are adapted to rotateindependently and bear their proportion of the load directly. Therespective lever-wheels rotate slowly by contact with the surfaces whichcoact therewith, and operate to reduce friction and distribute andequalize strain and wear, as hereinbefore fully set forth. I do notclaim broadly the employment or use of what I have termed lever-wheelsfor the aforesaid purposes; but

I claim as new and of my present invention 1. The combination,substantially as hereinbefore described,ofa pair oftraok-wheelsadaptedto rotate independently, and constructed with suitable hubs, and arotary load-sustaining axle above and parallel with the axle of saidtrack-wheels,havin g at its respective ends loose lever-wheels coactingwith said hubs of the track-wheels, for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of therotary track-wheel axle D, the parallel lever-wheel axle F, provided atits respective ends with lever-wheels w, the pedestals B, and axle-boxesH, having vertical slots to receive said axles,'and leverwheels 00,mounted in said boxes and forming the upper bearings of said lever-wheelaxle,

the axes of all being in one and the same vertical transverse plane, asshown, for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, in a self-propelling vehicle, substantially as.hereinbct'ore described, of a rotary driving-shaft, K, mounted invertically-slotted brackets upon the peripheries of a pair oflever-wheels and carrying a driving-pulley, a rotary track-wheel axle inthe same vertical plane, mounted in vertically-slotted pedestals beneathand in contact with the peripheries of a pair of lever-wheels andprovided at mid-length with a fast pulley, and a driving band or beltconnecting said pulleys, for the purposes set forth.

London, January 23, 1882.

WILLIAM JOHN BREWER.

Witnesses:

HENRY THEo. TRIEMER, Enwo. N. Homes.

